After losing Dan Quinn to the coaching carousel, the Dallas Cowboys hope that Mike Zimmer can step in and keep their defense strong. He has been out of the NFL for a little while but still has loads of experience leading defenses.
Zimmer spent seven seasons in the early-to-mid 2000s serving as the Cowboys defensive coordinator after six seasons as a defensive assistant, spending most of his time with the secondary. With Dallas eager to finally make a deep playoff run, Zimmer has to step up and do his part. He's looking for the defense to follow his lead as he tries to tap into the high-end talent around him, according to Todd Archer of ESPN.
“At the end of the day, we've got to do it the way I want it done. I know if you try to come in and do somebody else's thing, it just doesn't go well,” Zimmer said, via ESPN.
Zimmer's assessment of the Cowboys' defensive situation is much more optimistic than his my-way-or-the-highway stance indicates. He sees a lot of positives with this Dallas roster and said that it's starting with a much better spot than he had in other teams.
“It's like I told the defense the first day I got here. I said, this is a different deal for me. Usually when I come in, the defense is not good. You know? They're pretty darn good,” Zimmer said, via ESPN. “So it's a little different for me because we have to advance some of the things they were doing good and try to improve on the things they weren't doing as good. But for the most part they've played pretty darn good, and we're going to try to accentuate that and maybe be a little bit more technique-oriented, maybe a little bit more disciplined. Some of those things.”
Having Micah Parsons bodes well for Zimmer. The superstar outside linebacker is one of the best defensive players in all of football. Should Trevon Diggs come back strong after tearing his ACL, the Cowboys will have their star cornerback ready to make plays behind Parsons and fellow Pro Bowl lineman DeMarcus Lawrence again.
Last season, Dallas allowed the fifth-fewest points and fifth-fewest yards. Still, they committed a lot of penalties and were good but not great at getting to quarterbacks. There is plenty of improvement to be made going forward, though the starting point, as Zimmer said, is quite good already.
The Cowboys should once again be strong on offense, albeit with some new faces stepping up as the key playmakers. As long as Zimmer keeps the defense going strong, Dallas will remain a top team in 2024.
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